Fischertechnik Robotics TXT Controller: IoT for Young Engineers

Using Robotics TXT Controller to teach children about IoT through play. We visited Fischertechnik at the Spielwarenmesse 2018.

Robotics TXT Controller - familiarize yourself with IoT in a playful way

Jürgen Groh: Mr. Keller, can the toy industry still do without digital? Marcus Keller: It's possible without digital, but I think it makes more sense to combine digital with analog, because that's how it is in reality too. The boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred and children make no distinction between digital and analog. It's simply part of everyday life. Our aim is to combine the two in toys. Jürgen Groh: Here I see surveillance monitors, back there I see myself. Cameras. Can my child monitor me at home with this equipment? Marcus Keller: I wouldn't see it like that. Our aim is to make the topic of the Internet of Things understandable, which is why we developed the sensor station. First of all, the sensor station is used to record various measured values. This includes a camera image in order to understand how it works, to program corresponding SmartHome controls yourself, to set corresponding limit values in order to get an overview of the Internet of Things. It is certainly not intended or suitable for monitoring.

Conduct experiments: sensor station, cloud and app

Jürgen Groh: What exactly do you want to teach the child with the device? What can they play with it, how can I understand it? Marcus Keller: They can carry out experiments themselves and see how things change from a distance. The sensor station can be integrated into the cloud so that I can use an app to see how my air quality is at home, for example. If I have a problem with the humidity, I get an alarm and can ask the neighbors to come over when I'm on vacation to air the room, for example. Another topic, a project at school such as plant growth should be documented. The development of a plant. For example, I can point the camera from my SmartHome function at the plant and have it take a picture three times a day and upload it to the cloud. This gives me a series of measurements, a development of images and I can use this for my school projects, for example. Jürgen Groh: You said school - is it still too early for a kindergarten child? Marcus Keller: It's too early for kindergarten children. We say around the age of 10. If they have a certain understanding of robotics and computers, then it's the right topic to start with.

Analog gaming combined with digital functions

Jürgen Groh: In an international comparison, Germany is not necessarily at the forefront when it comes to young digital talent. Are these kinds of toys suitable for training young creative talent in the digital and Internet sector? Marcus Keller: We are trying to make a contribution by saying that this is a topic that is fun and encourages creativity, and that it goes some way to breaking down the inhibition threshold before the topic of digitalization, which is still very abstract. In this way, we want to make our contribution to developing creativity and promoting the young engineers of tomorrow. Jürgen Groh: Where will the journey take us? Is a child who says he only wants to play with building blocks going to be out at some point or will he also have a certain permanence in the whole thing? Marcus Keller: I'm sure it will endure, because our world will never be completely digital. There will always be a real world. Things you can touch. People want to understand and grasp them. People also want to design them themselves and that's why there will be the normal analogue constructing, playing and building enriched by digitalization. Jürgen Groh: I hope so. Marcus Keller: I'm quite sure of it!